M A I N   N E W S

White tiger born at Chhat Bir
From Bipin Bhardwaj

CHHAT BIR (Patiala), Oct 18 — Residents from all over the region are thronging Chhat Bir Zoo here to have a glimpse of the region’s first “cute and cuddly” white tiger cub laying bare her fangs after clinging to the broad shoulders of a zoo keeper.

The cub was born to a Royal Bengal tigress on the midnight of October 9. To the pleasant surprise of the zoo authorities, she was born to a brown Royal Bengal tigress.

The species is rare. Otherwise also, the population of white tigers in the country has dwindled after several of them died due to a disease in Nandankanan Zoo at Orissa recently. Her birth has brought Chhat Bir Zoo on the list of animal farms having white tigers.

The news about the cub’s entry into this world was broken to the zoo chief, Dr Vinod Sharma, by Mr Sudhir Kumar who was looking after the tiger’s enclosures. He had gone to check tigress Galory’s health when he noticed the cub.

A wave of excitement and happiness immediately took the zoo employees and animal lovers of the area in its grip.

Mother for the first time, Galory had given birth to three cubs within a span of five hours. Unfortunately one was born ‘‘dead’’, another died the next day.

The sole surviving white tiger, however, did not excite the mother as she did not show any signs of affection towards her for a long time and even refused to feed it. She even did not lick her face, said Dr Sharma.

In an attempt to feed her, Galory was even tranquilised. The ‘‘guest’’ was placed over a bed of straws in the enclosure. As the mother regained her senses, it again ignored the newly born. She was taken to the hospital for hand rearing.

Taking full precautions for the cub’s safety, a room in the rest house has been converted into an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Three tiger experts have also been dedicated for the care of the cub round the clock. The cub is being fed with synthetic milk as it cannot digest cow milk, said Dr Sharma.

Narrating the mystery behind the birth of a white tiger cub, Dr Sharma, disclosed that the newly born was a product of ‘‘planned breeding’’. ‘‘The zoo authorities had obtained a white tiger — ‘Raju’ from Kanpur Zoo in 1988, whose father was a white one and had the genes of a white tiger. Raju was crossed with Meenu, in 1991, which gave birth to Saurabh, a male tiger. The newly born cub is a cross-bread of Saurabh and Galory who have the genes of a white tiger, he claimed.

The Nandankanan Zoo in Orissa, where a number of tigers had died recently had a majority of white tigers in the country. Besides two other zoos — Hyderabad and Delhi — now Chhat Bir Zoo will be the next to will produce its own white tigers, the zoo authorities claimed.

Meanwhile Mr Surjit Kumar Jaini, Forest and Wildlife Minister of Punjab, who received the information rushed to see the cub. He also took a round of the zoo and appreciated the upkeep of the animals there. He stressed on the care and the upkeep of the little cub and named it Jooly.